Market Sell-Off Slams Stocks; Ocwen Financial Takes Heat

Major averages suffered sharp percentage declines, and growth stocks got nailed, one day after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve could start scaling back its monthly bond purchases by year-end.

Stocks never found their footing after a weak open Thursday. The S&P 500 lost 2.5% while the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq gave up 2.3%. Preliminary data showed NYSE and Nasdaq volume coming in much higher than Wednesday.

All three major averages closed below their 50-day moving averages and took out their June 6 intraday lows.

The CBOE Volatility Index, a popular fear gauge, spiked 27%.

In the stock market today, homebuilders underperformed on fear that borrowing costs will continue to rise. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund (ITB) lost 6% in more than double-average trade. It closed just above its 200-day moving average.

In economic news, weekly jobless claims rose more than expected last week to 354,000, but the Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey, a gauge of manufacturing activity in the Mid-Atlantic region, smashed estimates with a strong reading of 12.5. It was the highest reading since April 2011. May existing-home sales also came in better than expected.

The U.S. Dollar Index added 0.5% to 81.86, hurting gold and oil prices. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, August gold tumbled $87.80 to $1,286.20 an ounce. July gold shed $2.84 to $95.40 a barrel.

After the close, earnings from business software giant Oracle (ORCL) disappointed. After losing 3% during the regular session, shares fell an additional 4.5% in after-hours trading.

On Friday, CarMax (KMX) and Darden Restaurants (DRI) report before the open.

Major averages suffered sharp percentage declines, and growth stocks got nailed, one day after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve could start scaling back its monthly bond purchases by year-end.

Stocks never found their footing after a weak open Thursday. The S&P 500 lost 2.5% while the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq gave up 2.3%. Preliminary data showed NYSE and Nasdaq volume coming in much higher than Wednesday.

All three major averages closed below their 50-day moving averages and took out their June 6 intraday lows.

The CBOE Volatility Index, a popular fear gauge, spiked 27%.

In the stock market today, homebuilders underperformed on fear that borrowing costs will continue to rise. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund (ITB) lost 6% in more than double-average trade. It closed just above its 200-day moving average.

In economic news, weekly jobless claims rose more than expected last week to 354,000, but the Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey, a gauge of manufacturing activity in the Mid-Atlantic region, smashed estimates with a strong reading of 12.5. It was the highest reading since April 2011. May existing-home sales also came in better than expected.

The U.S. Dollar Index added 0.5% to 81.86, hurting gold and oil prices. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, August gold tumbled $87.80 to $1,286.20 an ounce. July gold shed $2.84 to $95.40 a barrel.

After the close, earnings from business software giant Oracle (ORCL) disappointed. After losing 3% during the regular session, shares fell an additional 4.5% in after-hours trading.

On Friday, CarMax (KMX) and Darden Restaurants (DRI) report before the open.

Ambarella (NASDAQ:AMBA) is expected to post double-digit growth in earnings and revenue when the video chipmaker reports Q4 results after the close Tuesday. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast an 88% increase in earnings per share excluding items, at 49 cents. Revenue is expected to jump ...

A more than $40 billion merger plan announced over the weekend begins to build what one analyst calls an "automotive powerhouse." IBD Leaderboard company NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI), a connected-car chipmaker and also a supplier of some chip technology in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones, said it ...

The technology sector in 2015 is picking up where 2014 left off, with the fastest pace of mergers and acquisition activity since the dot-com bubble's peak in 2000. Year to date, tech M&As total $55.3 billion globally, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of deals with disclosed financial ...

03/02/2015 06:49 PM ET

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